


Defeated

by teamchaosprez



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Gem War, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 12:52:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5164490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamchaosprez/pseuds/teamchaosprez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yellow Diamond receives the news that the war is basically over. She does not take it well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Defeated

**Author's Note:**

> Written on 11/7/2015, before any canon Yellow Diamond appearances.

Long nails, more accurately described as claws, tapped against the edge of the chair in the council room as their owner impatiently waited for news. Her sharp yellow eyes glanced towards the pearl standing in the corner of the room; this war had left her with a certain anxiety that was rather hard to ignore and get past. One of the gems that meant the most to her had just betrayed her and began a long, tiring series of battles that destroyed so many of their kind; what reason would she have to  _not_ be wary of everything surrounding her? Even the servants created for aesthetic could turn on her any moment now, she was sure of it.

This conflict was long and exhausting. It had been a very long time since it began; at least a few hundred years, if not a thousand. She had grown tired of keeping track, and simply accepted the concept that it would never end. If it did, it would be some divine sort of mercy that she would hold dear for the rest of her life. So many had been shattered; the humans she did not care for, but her subjects were the most precious thing in the world to her.

“Yellow Diamond.”

Her name being spoken startled her, though she did not show it with a twitch or a jump. Her gaze flitted towards the other gem that had just entered the room. Her comrade, Blue Diamond, stood before her with White Diamond at her side; they were here to deliver either good or bad news. Most likely bad; the leader was not optimistic about the outcome of the war, nor did she thoroughly trust either of her partners anymore. She'd trusted Pink Diamond – no, she was  _Rose Quartz_ now – and look where that had ended her.

No, Yellow Diamond would never give anyone her full trust again. Not even the two other remaining diamonds. She vowed to herself that she would never be so naive as to place her faith in another gem again, and from that moment onward she would always remain on guard. Maybe she would just stop caring about others in general. Apathy sounded absolutely wonderful compared to the devastating pain she had been living with.

“What is it?”

Her voice was emotionless. She was putting effort into making it so. The internal struggle she suffered through would make her seem weaker, make her seem like a less reliable leader and open up the opportunity to be overthrown. Both of these gems had seen her at her previous emotional lows, but she could not afford to show weakness now.  _They_ would turn on her, too.

“Rose Quartz deflected the blast with her shield, and it ricocheted onto the warship. Every gem on board has either been shattered or is currently lost in space. Our numbers are devastated, and she thinks she's won. If we send any more Gems out, we may not have any left in a few weeks. We cannot risk our own genocide over a pitiful planet and a few rebels.”

Her heart sank. So she was right after all. It was over; she couldn't really send more to their deaths over that hunk of dirt and rock no matter how personal the vendetta was. Sometimes, however, it felt that the stubbornness to continue this war was more personal to  _her_ than to the other two. Most of the time they acted like they couldn't care less that their fellow diamond had betrayed them. Perhaps they were just trying to be professional to do their jobs, but professionalism had been left in the dust long ago; they had to deal with each other morning, noon, and night, and trying to act like they did around their subjects at all times was just exhausting.

Yellow Diamond stayed silent for what felt like an eternity before standing suddenly, enough so that Blue and White seemed startled momentarily. Despair gave way to rage within seconds, and her hand reached for her gem. Both of her companions took a step backwards as she summoned her weapon, the massive sword glowing momentarily as it solidified in her hand. Her rage had once been easily managed, but since their group had been reduced to three it had become terrifying.

She turned quickly towards the diamond crest on the wall, slamming the sharp end of her weapon into the pink diamond on the bottom. The cracking sound of shattering metal filled the air as the broken pieces fell to the floor with several small  _clanks_ . Still clutching the hilt of her blade in her hand, she turned quickly to the other two with a look of pure anger on her face. Whether she was genuinely angry or just disguising her grief, she honestly did not know.

“Do we have any technicians or working wailing stones left on Earth?” The leader was coming up with this plan as she went along; had she been in a slightly better state of mind she never would have dreamed of what she intended to do.

“Yes, I believe so.” Blue Diamond watched her uneasily. Tch, like she would hurt either of them. She was more in the mood for mass destruction than smaller executions.

“Send a message to them. Have them gather up all the gem shards they can. Tell them to find a way to combine them into a fusion, the more painful the better.” She stopped talking momentarily to find that they both seemed a bit disturbed by the concept. Good. “Prototypes to scare them and a big one embedded in the Earth's core that will undoubtedly destroy the planet when it emerges. A massive weapon soldier thing that will tip any battle in our favor.”

“How will we control it when it comes out? It seems like something like that would be pretty difficult to manage.” White Diamond was horrified and appalled, Yellow Diamond could see it on her face... that was pleasing, but how  _dare_ she doubt her.

Annoyance was laced in her tone when she continued speaking. “We don't need to control it. We just need to destroy that stupid planet. I don't care if everyone working on it dies, I want Earth  _destroyed_ at whatever cost. They can think they've won, but they haven't.”

“Don't you think this seems a bit... harsh?”

“No.” She turned back to her chair and sat as elegantly as she could, trying to regain her composure and regain calmness as she crossed her legs and glared at the other two remaining diamonds. “I gave an order, carry it out.”

For a moment she expected them to argue that she was not the only one in charge and was their equal, but they were smart enough not to. White and Blue glanced at each other before nodding and leaving the room, muttering to each other as they left. A sharp glare towards the pearl in the room was enough to make her leave as well.

Just like that, Yellow Diamond was alone again. She returned her sword to her gem and slowly simmered down from boiling to calm once more. It didn't take long, however, for calmness to melt into distress once more. A pricking sensation developed in her eyes as she glanced around the room towards the damaged crest.

She buried her face in her hands, a muted sob forcing its way past her throat.

How could she have been so  _stupid_ .

 


End file.
